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Payless: Payless Shoes
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Payless was not alone in offering budget footwear in a self-service format to American consumers. The self-service shoe industry emerged soon after World War II when cheap imported shoes began to be available on a widespread basis. Growth was fueled by changes in fashion that emphasized a looser fitting, more casual shoe as well as more variety in footwear. The 1950s baby boom ... contributed to the rise in large discount shoe stores that catered primarily to middle-income families with children. Like most of these low-end shoe stores, Payless's major market was in women's and children's shoes, which constituted about 60 percent and 30 percent of sales, respectively. By the early 1960s, the $6 million sales rung up in Payless's 38 stores represented only a small fraction of the estimated $270 million volume of the self-service retail shoe industry.
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Payless Shoe Source is going to brand a hip new line of sneakers called, "The Amp." The Amp will shatter the typical shoe price point at a mere cost of $35. The Wall Street Journal Reported, "Sneaker shoppers accustomed to ever-escalating prices may be facing another kind of sticker shock this fal…
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The new line, branded ABT for Spotlights, is available now for under $25 in about 3,000 Payless stores nationwide and at Payless.com and includes styles for ballet, jazz and tap, as well as accessories such as dance bags. The shoes are available in kids and adult sizing and are perfect for the beginning dancer.
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Douglass feels his team has become more willing to take risks to move Payless toward success. He cites a recent marketing success as evidence. A new advertising agency pitched a somewhat risky idea to give away a pair of shoes to every baby born in 2000. Because the team liked the idea, they decided to go for it, and the risk paid off by increasing store traffic and distinguishing Payless from its competitors.
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Payless has offered dance shoes under the Spotlights brand for the past several years. Through the Payless/ABT alliance, which was launched in May of 2006, Payless footwear designers were able to access ABT(TM) and its world-class dancers to gain intimate knowledge of the art of dance to develop and bring forward the enhanced, co-branded line.
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